David Cameron today urged Falkland Islanders to seize the opportunity presented by an upcoming referendum to send a ''definitive'' message to the
international community about their wishes for the future of their homeland.

Falklanders will vote in March on whether they wish to maintain their status as a UK overseas territory, in a poll designed to fend off increasingly
aggressive Argentine claims to the islands Buenos Aires knows as Las Malvinas

Argentina 'to use YPF to search for Falkland Islands oil'
Argentina has set itself on another collision course with Britain by planning to use seized energy company YPF to search for oil around the Falkland
Islands, according to reports.

Been a while since we had a good Falkland islands thread so i predict much hatred from certain quarters along with mentions of 1.8 billion deaths in
India and a load of crap mentioning American policy that has nothing to do with the Islands

So lets have a nice democratic referendum and see what that gives as there would be no arguments then that the islanders have made their decision and
it should be upheld whatever its outcome

I hope they do and I really hope the Argentines recognise the 'Will of the People' by leaving them alone.

Argentina have wanted sovereignty for no more reason that not wanting the UK to have them. Great motivation huh? Before the oil was discovered, the
island is a subsistence economy where even a single sheep needs a couple of acres to feed itself. It's grim over there - bad weather, few jobs and
reliance on imports.

The human angle (to me) is that these people call it home and they want to stay there. The bummer of it all is political football always trounces the
people and oil-economics often ends up making the host country poorer than the ones who are buying it. In that light, oil could ruin the Falklands,
place it in an armed political crossfire and leave a handful of interests with more money than they started with.

I welcome the referendum and commend Cameron for it - if only he'd allow the rest of the UK the same right to self-determination on continued
membership of the EU.

Argentina will not drill for oil in Falkland Islands terrirtorial waters, the repercussions would be devestating.

They can do what they want in their own waters, it is entirely up to them - however it must be said that despite illegally taking over YPF Argentina
still lacks the finance and technical know-how to begin planning any exploratory drilling.

Argentina uses the Falklands as an opportunity to rally morale and attempts to stem protesting Parties it is essentially a scapegoat an interesting
point you raise that they want the Islands just because they want it the motivation behind the first conflict was the a matter of political
convenience to stem the uproar of economic protests they even put in place on the islands their own language and place their own currency on the
people, the islanders will always be a target of too and throw.

the terrain as you said isn't the best and summer at best is around 14/15 centigrade but the scenery is spectacular beautiful environment shame about
the course the place is set on.

you are right the Islands would be ruined by the oil and I wonder how much of the profit they would see, Look at mexico probably be a nice place if it
didn't have to be kept in check to secure the southern US front.

Argentina uses the Falklands as an opportunity to rally morale and attempts to stem protesting Parties it is essentially a scapegoat an interesting
point you raise that they want the Islands just because they want it the motivation behind the first conflict was the a matter of political
convenience to stem the uproar of economic protests they even put in place on the islands their own language and place their own currency on the
people, the islanders will always be a target of too and throw.

Good points

A mate in the army says the islands have strategic value for us as they offer a jump-off base for any South Atlantic conflicts. Maybe he's right? No
doubt about the political side to things...giving an inch to Argentina would be a blow to our international reputation.

The Argentinian government trots out the Falklands issue every so often, but I would like to urge the people of Argentina to use what influence they
have to stop their leaders from attempting to take control by force as it would be an act of suicidal insanity for the Argentinian armed forces.

These Islands are are not the undefended outpost they were back in the nineteen eightees. Without taking into account the various underwater defence
assets (nuclear, or not), there is the continuous presence of a Type 45 Destroyer which (trust me) is an incredibly powerful, and sophisticated
maritime warfare platform. Then there is the South Atlantic Patrol Floatilla which among other things has a considerable number of air/land/sea
deployable Royal Marine Commando's.

There would be no need for a large Task Force this time as the Islands Airbase has among other things Typhoon multi-role aircraft that make
Argentinian Migs look like kites, and a joint helicopter force including Apache attack helicopters that are capable of striking maritime targets.

The Falklands are garrisoned by fiftteen thousand of the worlds finest, and most combat ready troops plus the well equiped, and highly motivated
Falklands Islands Defence Force. So please ordinary decent Argentinian people dont let your Government squander the life's of your armed forces in
what would be a pointless massacre.

Chevron have recently announced that they are investing in a joint venture with YPF in a shale oil / gas development project in Argentina so I guess
they might be the most likely collaboarators in any off shore drilling.

But nothing is set in stone - much may depend on the outcome of the Spanish owned Repsol's claim against the Argentine government for what they allege
is the illegal seizure of YPF.

Venezuela seems to promote the idea of South American unity etc at every given opportunity but recently they have been seriously pissing off many of
their neighbours, including Brasil who are the regional power house and an emerging world power.
And as question marks continue over Chavez's health who know's how things may change domestically in Venezuela.

China seems wrapped up in Africa and I doubt they would want the added complications of confrontation with the UK - China still depends an 'the west'
for quite a lot - but who can second guess the Chinese?

Even if Argentina does develop or gain access to the finance and technical capability to enable drilling the repercussions for them actually
attempting to do so within Falkland Island waters would be devestating to the Argentinan people and Kirchner's administration.
Argentina wouldn't stand a hope in hell if there was another military confrontation, (hopefully this will never happen).

The truly sad thing is that only relatively recently the UK offered to share costs and proceeds etc from oil and gas development around The Falkland's
with Argentina.
The UK even offered to fund and build a massive oil refinery on the Argentinian mainland.
The proposal would have provided a much neede boost to the Argentinian economy which again is in dire straits.

For some reason Kirchner dismissed the offer outright - seems to me like the only people who will suffer are the ordinary Argentinian
people.

And we have justification in the militarization of the area due to the war 30 years back I take interest in the area as my Dad was down there and he
told me that the war wasn't for the people or the Island it was due to the resources it was known back then about the oil but not as declared most
people said he'd been watching to much mad max and that he was just being stupid but now his point is being proved, and it is a pit stop to the
south, and now with the ice melting the shipping lanes are opening up Ironic that its heating up around the area again......

the key to the islands in my opinion is to keep Argentina is a peaceful state where war and other forms of hostilities would rendered redundant or to
flat out screw the country up so bad no form of argument could arise due to constant in fighting amongst them all ....... or is that what they have
already done to them selves.

Invading Argentina is unthinkable don't get me wrong, however the only way a country will always be secure to external threats is by a total
domination of the globe in the key area's that is talk of an empire but in heart you can see its what most countries strive for and that is dominance
over the rest.......

religion politics are unfortunately construed in this theory as religion “Religious suffering is, at one and the same time, the expression of real
suffering and a protest against real suffering. Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world, and the soul of
soulless conditions. It is the opium of the people.”
[Marx, Introduction to Critique of Hegel’s Philosophy of Right]

I believe that the only way for true peace itself is total annihilation of the human race as we always have conflict amongst our selves greed is a
good factor in this as are many other human behaviours.....

wow I wasn't aware of the project the brits put forward bit of a kick in the teeth to the argintines as this would have been a great boost to the
economy for them and provide decent jobs as well like I said greed is a dangerous thing

The key thing to the Brits about the Falklands is not only its strategic placement or its oil reserves, but its proximity to the Antarctic Having an
'outpost' so close allows the UK to stake a claim an area in the Antarctic region. An area that has GROWN over the years, through some rather dodgy
methods. The biggest and strangest land grab being when the UK printed postage stamps detailing their claimed area of Antarctica, an area far larger
than had been advertised in the past.
Well no one complained .............so it kinda stuck
And now they have named a portion Queen Elizabeth land ....................just thinking about the last time someone renamed a large portion of the
Antarctic sounds a little to close to new Swabia (neuschwabenland)

But this is probably the key to the Falklands ..........that proximity to the antarctic .........just look at a photo of the UK's antarctic area after
all ,the Brits offered the Argies a share in the oil ........... Which they turned down ............didn't see an offer of shared right to this
antartic area though

Chevron have recently announced that they are investing in a joint venture with YPF in a shale oil / gas development project in Argentina so I guess
they might be the most likely collaboarators in any off shore drilling.

But nothing is set in stone - much may depend on the outcome of the Spanish owned Repsol's claim against the Argentine government for what they
allege is the illegal seizure of YPF.

Venezuela seems to promote the idea of South American unity etc at every given opportunity but recently they have been seriously pissing off many of
their neighbours, including Brasil who are the regional power house and an emerging world power.
And as question marks continue over Chavez's health who know's how things may change domestically in Venezuela.

China seems wrapped up in Africa and I doubt they would want the added complications of confrontation with the UK - China still depends an 'the
west' for quite a lot - but who can second guess the Chinese?

Even if Argentina does develop or gain access to the finance and technical capability to enable drilling the repercussions for them actually
attempting to do so within Falkland Island waters would be devestating to the Argentinan people and Kirchner's administration.
Argentina wouldn't stand a hope in hell if there was another military confrontation, (hopefully this will never happen).

The truly sad thing is that only relatively recently the UK offered to share costs and proceeds etc from oil and gas development around The
Falkland's with Argentina.
The UK even offered to fund and build a massive oil refinery on the Argentinian mainland.
The proposal would have provided a much neede boost to the Argentinian economy which again is in dire straits.

For some reason Kirchner dismissed the offer outright - seems to me like the only people who will suffer are the ordinary Argentinian
people.

edit on 22/12/12 by Freeborn because: typo

I'm sure I read somewhere that Argentina is sitting of billions of tonnes/gallon (what ever measurement is used for oil) of oil. Oil companies and
aides have been recommending the government builds 50/60 oil wells on these oil/gas deposits which would, boost they're economy big time! How did
that bitch win the election?

Respect to the old man
Arguably the last time a western nation had a uniformed 'general warfare' conflict that took place between countries
GW1 was but a blip and nearly everything since then has been under the guise of this counter insurgency / war on terror pish

Edit
But I will add
The Falklands and the Georgian islands are one thing however something kinda related but very much over looked is the Ascension Island, smack bang in
the mid Atlantic
Considering its geographical location its geological properties its military presence and other certain 'oddities' shall we say ............just
surprised no ones putting 2 and 2 together in other certain forums here

Respect to the old man
Arguably the last time a western nation had a uniformed 'general warfare' conflict that took place between countries
GW1 was but a blip and nearly everything since then has been under the guise of this counter insurgency / war on terror pish

Edit
But I will add
The Falklands and the Georgian islands are one thing however something kinda related but very much over looked is the Ascension Island, smack bang in
the mid Atlantic
Considering its geographical location its geological properties its military presence and other certain 'oddities' shall we say ............just
surprised no ones putting 2 and 2 together in other certain forums here

edit on 23-12-2012 by Neocrusader because: Added

Thats right it has an RAF base on the Ascension Island and a space station is there as well My granddad spent some time there in the 60's he was a RAF
surgeon the Island was a stopping point on route to the Falklands and was used for R n R i think the airforce base was built in WW2 and is still in
use the position and location of the Island is a key one If my geography is correct its just about central south Atlantic and I think you need to
obtain high permission to visit the Island I don't know if that is still the case, south georgia was an interesting fight during the Argentine capture
the guy in charge was only told to get them a little bit of stick but not to go out the way to cause mayhem and he basically said F'that the Argies
couldn't believe it was only around 40 men on the Island there are quite a few little Islands further down south like south orkney islands the Argies
have a base called Orcadas Base on Laurie Islands all part and part of the claims for the Antarctic Resources where If I'm correct they permanently
station naval forces there.

And thank you for the appreciation for my dad, most of the time we all skim through a lot of threads so much reading......

Are you current serving or retired ? as you are not naive on the topic respect to you either way

Currently serving .........in a manner of speaking lol
Spent some time down south myself
Ascention as a launch platform into west Africa and the Falklands in 04 .....even then the Argentine special forces / intelegence service were
conducting covert recon incursions onto the island
A special forces dingy was found ashore, single engine large enough for a 8 man team, well camouflaged and was recovered by the Brits at MPA
...............some one had a long swim to extraction lol !

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